Page 27 - TNTApril2018

WHO:
Rob Wells
HOMEBASE:
Sandpoint, Idaho / Seattle, WA
POSITION:
CEO of
Quest Aircraft
RATINGS:
ATP with multiple turboprop (including Starship!) and jet type ratings
HOURS:
8,000+
Brazilian Kodiak dealer Jim Cable pictured with Rob Wells.
by Rebecca Groom Jacobs
1. You have dedicated more than four decades to business aviation. What aspects about the industry have you hooked?
In the early years, it was all about flying and like many of my contemporaries, I was hooked on the idea of becoming an airline pilot. But luckily for me, my career took a different path into general aviation, and brought with it opportunities that I could never have imagined. Today, I find it’s the people I’ve come to know and enjoy that have kept me hooked. We all share that common bond of loving aviation, which crosses all cultures and experiences.
2. Fifteen years of your career were spent in Geneva, Switzerland with TAG Aviation. What are some of the core differences between business aviation in the United States and Europe?
Certainly, the aircraft management business is different, with United States being corporate centric and the rest of the world being an indistinct combination of high net worth and business. Otherwise, business aviation in Europe (and Asia and the Middle East for that matter) has much in common with the United States. One of the main challenges was just learning the regulatory environments in each country and region. But I greatly enjoyed the fact that my job required me to engage with many cultures, and fortunately my pilot background was often the common ground with colleagues and customers.
3. What is your current view on the strength of the GA market? What you are feeling as a business and your optimism for the future?
Business aviation has experienced a significant recovery the last few years. Having been involved with EBAA for many years in Europe and now GAMA in the United States, I am
April 2018
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